Fate, Love, and Ecstasy: Wisdom from the Lesser-Known Goddesses of the Greeks

Whether you are reading Greek mythology for psychological insights or studying the classics in college, there are a number of goddesses who have been almost entirely over-looked. They are who John Sanford calls the lesser-known goddesses. However, there is nothing lesser about them. They personify the deeper elements that exist across all life, nature, and spiritual reality. Our current culture often neglects their qualities but would be wise to increase its understanding of them.

Many books, including the bestseller Goddesses in Everywoman by Jean Bolen, illustrate well-known goddesses who are the main characters in their stories. But behind the scenes and often running their personalities are the lesser-known goddesses from the ancient matriarchal era of Greek culture. To bring forward their spiritual meaning, Sanford has pieced together information from various Greek stories, plays, and poems. In so Boing, this unique book reacquaints us with:

PEITHO
Goddess of gentle persuasion who wins love by consent rather than force.

THE THREE CHARITIËS
Goddesses of Beauty, good cheer, and abundance who inspire both charm and grace.

AIDOS
Goddess of modesty, self-respect, and shame whose sensitivities heighten the joy of love.

ANANKE
Goddess of necessity who brings the realization of what must be done.

THEMIS
Goddess of right order who shows the rule of lines, limits, and boundaries.

ATË
Goddess of folly, ruin, and sin who disregards all morals and consequences.

THE THREE FATES
Goddesses of the unchangeable, and fateful events whose irrationalities shape each person's life.

THE THREE ERINYES
Goddesses of fury who unleash the unceasing, relentless, and envious anger of feminine justice.

DIONYSUS
God and goddess of ecstasy who vitalizes life through divine energy and creative Inspiration.

JOHN A. (JACK) SANFORD is a Jungian Analyst, Marriage and Family Counselor, and Pastoral Counselor practicing in San Diego, California. He is the author of eighteen books on the subjects of psychology, religion, and individuation. He is well known for his works The Kingdom Within: A Study of the Inner Meaning of Jesus' Sayings and Evil: The Shadow Side of Reality. His most recent works include Mystical Christianity: A Psychological Commentary on the Gospel of John, Healing Body and Soul: The Meaning of Illness in the New Testament and in Psychotherapy, and Soul Journey: A Jungian Analyst Looks at Reincarnation.

Dr. Sanford served as an Episcopal minister with the Reverend Morton T. Kelsey and studied depth psychology with the Tate Fritz Kunkel, M.D. He completed his training in Jungian analysis at the C. G. Jung Institute in Los Angeles.

He and his wife, Lynn, have two grown children, a grandson, and a number of cats and dogs.